Hamburg, Germany -
Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY)
has been given the go-ahead on the X-ray laser for the TeV-Energy
Superconducting Linear Accelerator project,but the German government
will not make a proposal at this time to host the TESLA collider.

The two TESLA projects,the X-ray laser and the linear collider,were
assessed by the German Science Council with excellent results in November,
2002 and the Federal Minister of Education and Research,Edelgard
Bulmahn,announced the government ’s two-part decision on Feb.5:

1)The X-ray laser will be built as a European project,and Germany will
bear half the costs because of the advantage of location;

2)Before making a decision on a location of the TESLA linear collider,the
German government will wait for developments on the international level
within the high-energy physics community.The current research work for
the project will be continued by DESY within an international framework,
to enable German participation in a future global project.

“DESY welcomes the rapid and trend-setting statement
of the Federal Government on the large-scale research
facilities and sees it as a tremendous chance for
TESLA,”said the Chairman of the DESY Directorate,
Professor Albrecht Wagner.“It strengthens the
Helmholtz Association [of National Research Centers ]
playing the role of an operating agency for large-scale
research facilities.The possibility to realize the TESLA
X-ray laser as a European project at DESY opens up
outstanding research possibilities for Germany.For the
linear collider for particle physics which is being planned
on a longer-term basis,DESY is able to continue the
international research work.”

On the basis of Buhlman’s decision,preparations for TESLA will now enter a
new phase:Concerning the X-ray laser project,the first step will be to work
out the financial,technical and organizational framework with the interested
European partners.

The decision of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)to
await the course of the international developments before recommending a
site for the TESLA linear collider,while renewing its support of the research
and development work for such a collider,allows DESY and its partners
to continue with the political and technological coordination and decision
process which is currently in progress at an international level.The declared
goal is to operate a linear collider as an international research facility for
particle physics in the next decade either in America,Asia or Europe,
possibly at DESY.

TESLA is a particle accelerator operating at
extremely high energies (Tera electron volts).The
unique feature of the TESLA concept is the use
of superconducting acceleration structures which
have to be cooled down to minus 271 degrees
Celsius.DESY initiated research and development
10 years ago for TESLA,and the project is now
being carried out as joint effort by 46 institutions
from 12 countries at a test facility in Hamburg.

Both projects employ superconducting technology.
In the 33-kilometer-long TESLA linear collider,it will
provide the means of producing particle collisions
at the highest energies,allowing physicists to take
a closer,more detailed look than ever before at
the smallest dimensions and the origins of matter
and the universe.The superconducting electron
accelerator of the TESLA X-ray laser will serve
as a source of intense and extremely short X-ray
flashes with laser properties that will open up
completely new research opportunities for the
natural sciences.

The wavelength of the laser light is so small that
even atomic details become discernible;the
wavelength can be varied in the range of six to
one-tenth of a nanometer.The highly intense,ultra-
short X-ray flashes enable researchers to record
what are essentially films from the microscopic
world —monitoring,for example,how a chemical
reaction progresses from atom for atom —to study
the processes occurring inside materials or to
unveil the structure of biological molecules.

Witherell:DESY announcement furthers global outlook
Fermilab Director Michael Witherell views the stance of the German
government on the TESLA linear collider as another step toward
realizing the next big machine of high-energy physics as a global effort.
“This decision means that the next step on a linear collider is up
to the international high-energy physics community,”Witherell said.
“Everyone now agrees that if a linear collider is to be built,it will be
done by a new type of international collaboration in which no single
country takes the dominant decision-making role.The International
Linear Collider Steering Committee,which met recently in Japan,is
thinking about how to organize a global linear collider project,how to
create an internationally distributed accelerator design effort,and how
to engage government funding agencies in supporting the project.”